KUALA LUMPUR: Nothing less than a win is expected from Malaysia when they open their Junior Asia Cup (JAC) Group B campaign against Uzbekistan at Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Muscat, Oman, tomorrow.
National junior coach Amin Rahim is confident of a victory, although he has no clue about Uzbekistan's preparations.
Oman, South Korea and Bangladesh make up Group B, and Group A comprises Taiwan, India, Japan, Pakistan and Thailand.
Three teams from the JAC will qualify for the Junior World Cup in Kuala Lumpur from Dec 5-16. However, Malaysia have qualified as a host.
Malaysia played a friendly against Japan on Sunday, and the result was not encouraging.
"We lost 4-0 to Japan in a three-quarter match. My players were heavy-footed and looked lethargic coming in from the Phnom Penh Sea Games.
"It was just a friendly, and nothing more. We will beat Uzbekistan to have a good start in the tournament," said Amin.
Pakistan defeated Oman 3-1 and South Korea 8-0 in friendlies, but Amin is not reading too much into the results.
"The target is to play in the semi-finals and then go for gold in Oman. Reading into friendlies will not help our cause, as many teams just want to feel the pitch and have a good warm-up.
Uzbekistan are a mystery, as they are not staying at the same hotel as Malaysia and seven other teams.
"I have not even seen them train or play a friendly in Oman, but that will not stop us from collecting three points in the opener," said Amin.
Teams who have qualified for the Junior World Cup are Malaysia, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Egypt, Argentina, Canada and Chile.